Lady Bug Dreams

We, like so many others, have embarked on a journey, that has us swinging between hysterical laughter to tears of unknown.
But we are doing it.....

Friday, September 15, 2006

Getting ready to travel

Hi everyone,I can't believe we have had Brie for 4 months.She is wonderful. We are getting ready to travel to IL and OH so she can meet both her Grandmas. We will be celebrating the Moon Festival in IL and plan on going to the Chinatown located in downtown Chicago. I can't wait. I'm hoping that the leaves will be changing color and the weather will be cooler. Brie and I will be flying to AZ for 2 weeks in the beginning of Nov. It's alot of traveling, but should be lots of fun. We are already getting ready for the holidays. As you can tell, we have alot going on and need to be ready. Here are some pics of Brie in her Halloween costume. What a little princess!

Monday, July 17, 2006

It doesn't get any better than this!!!

Sunday, July 02, 2006

Our Happy Hill Family

What an incredible first 6 weeks home. We are very blessed with such a good baby. Everyone is sleeping all night. Brie has gained 31/2 lbs, got 3 more teeth and is walking. She is growing right before our eyes. She loves bath time and playing in the pool. We can even dunk her under the water and she comes up laughing. Mommie and Daddy are having a BLAST with her!

Thursday, June 01, 2006

Saturday, May 27, 2006

Back Home

Well, I can't believe we are finally home with our daughter. What an incredible journey with a great ending! This is a picture of me and Brie on adoption day in Lanzhou, China. We could not post to our blogspot after we left Beijing. The flight home was torture, but we survived. We are recovering from jetlag and trying to switch our days and nights. Brianna is advancing everyday and is even starting to crawl. She is such a joy. We are truly lucky to have been chosen to be her parents.

Saturday, May 13, 2006

Tianneman Square, Forbidden City and Great Wall

Well - it is 03:50 AM Sunday (Mothers Day) - we are getting ready to fly out to Lanzhou and get Brianna at 3:00 PM today - We went to Tian ne man Square, Forbidden City and the Great Wall today - needless to say - with the altitude and all the walking - we are plum tuckered.Carolyn just woke, I woke about an hour ago - still on US time so we are coping the best we can - the photo's are posted in the new folder for our adventures today..

This may be a last post for a few days, we do not know what the interior provinces hold for internet access.Peace for nowJohn

Friday, May 12, 2006

Temple of Heaven and local artist

Inside the Temple of Heaven - on our first day in Beijing

Temple of Heaven - we got there very early on Thursday morning - only Westerners there and were the object of many stares and chatter. We also were the only folks wearing shorts, everyone else were in slacks and jackets - it was 75 degrees, quite nice.

Temple of Heaven storage building - there are two of these - this one to the East of the Temple and another to the West - they stored grains and supplies in these buildings - 9 bay doors signified something, however, I could not stay and read the entire description, the locals were closing in on me - they are fascinated by the tattoo's

We are posting blindly - the access is shotty - half the time we get errors after submitting. We will attempt to post more. These were from our first day in town. We left Tampa Tuesday morning and got in Beijing on Wednesday afternoon - so we were shot. Went out on Thursday to the above park and Temple of Heaven.

Later in the afternoon walked up to the local art district.

We visited a local art school - beware the ploy - the local like to practise their english which is ok, however when they ask if you would like to experience some local culture and start walking you somewhere because they want to share - prepare for the "bait-n-switch" they want to sell you something. Luckily we wanted to buy, we were looking for local art and found an apt student and she had wares to sell - our Artist Lily and the Koi painting we purchased that she painted.

Photos from two days in Beijing

Guards at the Temple of Heaven

Hutong area - local folks looking at the Americans - very friendly folks - Hutong is 200 plus year old area - 4 homes share a common courtyard and build off each other. Visited a local gentleman who was a archeologist for the state (retired) who has lived in the family owned Hutong for 53 years, they are passed down through the generations.

Hutong alley wayThis is the approach to the Bell Tower - it was used as a time piece for the local area - every 30 minutes a drum was beat - the clock was the water machine pictured also.

Bell Tower - Big Ben of Beijing, the steps to the top of this 7 story structure were 16" high and at about 60 degree incline - holy-crap....

This is the approach to the Bell Tower - it was used as a time piece for the local area - every 30 minutes a drum was beat - the clock was the water machine pictured also.

Wednesday, May 03, 2006

Ready, Set.......Go!

After all we have been thru in the last 1 1/2 years, we are finally on the verge of leaving to bring our daughter home. We are excited beyond words.

We are flying out very early Tues, May 9th. Brianna's birthday is on May 13th. We will be handed our daughter on Mother's Day, May 14th. How cool is that!!! The older boys will be holding down the homefront and I'm sure they will do a great job. I will miss them and my dog (we are very close). I can't wait to introduce them to their baby sister. I am a nervous wreck, but I just keep taking deep breaths.

Tuesday, April 11, 2006

Final Travel Dates are In!!!

Here are the details of our travel plans:

May 9th-depart US for ChinaMay 10-arrive in BeijingMay 11-13-sightseeMay 14-fly to city where our daughter isMay 15th-we will be handed our daughter (gotcha day)May 20-fly to Guangzhou for adoption paperworkMay 24th-depart China for US

I am busy trying to book flights because they have to be confirmed by Friday. Only 3-4 days to make it all happen! The pressure is on now. Just kidding, I am working with 3 different travel agents and myself. We are definiately leaving on May 9th, just don't know the details yet. That is our 8th wedding anniversery (Happy Anniversery honey!).

Thursday, April 06, 2006

TA's are here!!!

We just received news that our TA (travel approval from China) has arrived. Our agency is making our appointment with the American Consulate for the week of May 15th. That means...we will leave approx. May 3rd (give or take a few days). This is only approx dates and we will not be able to confirm for another 4-6 days.

We are so close to bringing our baby daughter home (I can smell the baby powder)!!! We are very happy parents!

Saturday, March 04, 2006

More info on our daughter

We received the growth report yesterday and found out alot of history on our daughter. Fist of all her name, Hongyan, means :

Hong: grand and extensiveYan: beautiful

She was found at Fuli Road on May 14th with her umbilical cord still attached and bound up. She was dressed in red (red means lucky) cotton clothes and wrapped in a white (white means morning) quilt. She was taken to the local police and then to the welfare institute. She weighed 7.37 lbs and was 20.49" in height. She has not had any serious illness. She was placed in foster care on Sept 10, 2005. We are so happy and very lucky to find she is living in a family atmosphere. Her development appears to be in the normal range. We have heard from other families with Wuwei daughters that the babies are very well loved, cared for and that we are very lucky to have been referred a Wuwei daughter. WOW!!!

We don't have a pic yet because the original paperwork is still lost. It will be a few days at least till we have a photo. We will post more as we get the info. We are just over joyed and in love with her already!!!

Tuesday, February 28, 2006

Lost Referral

The shipping company (DHL) has lost the package containing 64 of the 90 referrals. Some people received the info on their daughters yesterday, but NOT us. I won't even try to express what we are going thru right now. We are at a loss for words.